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As the Warriors fell behind by 17 to a skeleton-crew Grizzlies team, in front of a dulled Chase Center crowd, Golden State’s coaches pleaded for energy.
Assistant coach Anthony Vereen gave an impassioned speech. The staff was “begging” for emotion, Steve Kerr said.
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Of all people, the Warriors on the court shouldn’t have needed any begging. The players out there — Pat Spencer, Gui Santos, Moses Moody, Brandin Podziemski — are young and should be hungry. They should be the ones fighting to prove themselves. They should be locked in, not throwing the ball into the stands and paving Ty Jerome driving lanes to the rim.
Eventually, they snapped out of it. The Grizzlies, without any interest in winning games the rest of the season after selling at the deadline, pulled their best players. The Warriors held Memphis to five points in the final 8:23, erasing the deficit and winning on Santos’ tip-drill layup with 19 seconds left.
Monday’s 114-113 win didn’t disguise the reality that the Warriors (29-25) are a team that needs a breather. From the wear-and-tear of a travel-packed early schedule to the emotional toll of the past two weeks of trade deadline hullabaloo, this team is exhausted. Jimmy Butler underwent ACL reconstruction surgery on Monday, and the Warriors are still getting used to life without him — and the altered expectations that come with that. Steph Curry has missed the past four games with runner’s knee, and won’t participate in his 12th All-Star Game.
Luckily for them, they have just one more game, at home on Wednesday, before the All-Star break. They made it through the dog days, now they’re on the cusp of a reset.
“Every year, the All-Star break just seems to come at the right time,” head coach Steve Kerr said. “The players are pretty wiped out. I can tell by mental mistakes, over the years, like the last few games before the break. And then the difference in the energy before and after the break, it’s pretty obvious everyone needs a rest and little vacation.”
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3 days ago
Two football helmets, one Seahawks and one Patriots, face each other on gravel outside Levi's Stadium with a large "Super Bowl" sign in the background.
6 days ago
A basketball player in a green Milwaukee Bucks jersey numbered 34 is running on the court, with images of basketball shots and Warriors jerseys on the left.
Friday, Jan. 30
A football player in a white and red San Francisco 49ers uniform holds a football, preparing to throw while running on the field.
Players and coaches have been making travel plans. Hawaii. Tahoe. Florida. You name it.
Golden State enters and exits the All-Star break with home games, which is an added convenience — the team’s last game on Wednesday and first practice out of the break will be at Chase Center. No need for travel agents to book extra, multi-city flights.
It was important for the team, though, to not think too far ahead and start the All-Star break prematurely. Players needed to focus on the game plan, not on the beach. That’s a coach’s greatest fear around this time of year. And they looked like they were on their way through three quarters against Memphis.
Draymond Green committed five turnovers in his first 20 minutes. Memphis shot 58% in the first half, as Jerome and Taylor Hendricks cooked a disengaged Warriors defense.
The crowd felt it. Empty seats splattered the lower bowl, and the arena mirrored the team’s lack of energy. Without Curry and Butler, tickets were available for cheap on the resale market.
Then Moody started to get hot (he cracked double-digits for the 13th time in his past 14 games). Al Horford went to work on the block and leapfrogged Green in the rotation. Podziemski, Santos, and Spencer made hustle plays.
And, perhaps most importantly, Memphis pulled Jerome and Hendricks. Rookie star Cedric Coward didn’t play in the second half after tweaking his knee. Fans erupted as the Warriors closed on an 11-0 run.
“It’s a tough time of year, right before the break, we’ve got all the injuries, we’re short-handed,” Kerr said. “So, it has to be a collective effort. It has to be an energetic one. You have to believe. You have to infuse each other with some spirit, some energy. Took a while, but we finally got there.”
The Grizzlies traded Jaren Jackson Jr. before the deadline, racking in a slew of first-round picks from Utah. Ja Morant, Zach Edey, Brandon Clarke, and Santi Aldama have each been banged up; none played in Chase Center. Memphis has every reason to lose in the second half of the season, as the team is in rebuild mode and playing for ping-pong balls.
The Warriors expect Curry back after the All-Star break, as he’s been day-to-day. He’ll have gone nearly three full weeks between games, getting ample time to nurse his runner’s knee.
“I think it is good,” Horford said of the timing of the All-Star break. “Mostly because it’ll give Steph more time to hopefully be where he needs to be.”
New addition Kristaps Porzingis said he’s also targeting the first game out of the break to make his return. He hasn’t played since Jan. 7, but is ramping up with individual work.
“I think it is a good time that the All-Star break is coming now, and for all of us to reset,” Horford said. “And know that this is what we have moving forward, and we can focus on that.”